Luke 1,39-56. Rorate Caeli

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever 

se cwide þæs béaggiefan ábireþ ferhþ

Luke 1,39-56     0419 

Rorate Cæli; Shower down, O heavens; 4. Sonntag im Advent  04

Servulus, beggar at Rome ✠ 589 

23. Dezember 2018 

1. O Lord Jesus Christ, all Your holy Christendom rejoices this day to celebrate Your holy advent. We, poor, erring lambs, leap for joy that You, O Shepherd and Bishop of our lives, cause Your gracious presence to be realized among us in the blessed virgin Mary. O Lord do not depart from us with Your grace, but let us gratefully realize this gracious day of Your visitation, so that Your advent may always be salutary and full of grace unto us. With all Your pure Word, Your holy Sacraments, Your wisdom, support, favor, blessing and grace, visit us in our churches and our homes. We rejoice that You do not arrive as a Just Judge before whom we tremble, but rather You arrive as the Kind Redeemer with whom we will be co-heirs of the reign of heaven (Löhe 444-46).  Amen. 

2. »In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry: „Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should visit me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting entered my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.“ And Mary said: „My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for He has looked on the humble estate of His servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His Name. And His mercy is for those who fear Him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent empty away. He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy, as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.“ And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home.«  

3. It is the 4. Sunday in Advent, and the arrival of the Christ is now imminent. Today is the eve of Christmas Eve, and the heavens shower down the Glory of the Lord. Our Gospel pericope recounts when the Son of God was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the Virgin Mary. Thus the Church believes, teaches and confesses that Mary is the θεοτοκος, the bearer of God. 

4. The Prophet Isaiah speaks of this 700 years earlier when he told King Ahaz in 735 bc: »The Lord Himself will give you a sign of His deliverance. Behold, the virgin will conceive and bear a son, and He will be named Immanuel, God is with us (Isaiah 7,14). Mary’s response to this prophetic fulfillment in her womb was to immediately go to her cousin Elizabeth so she could greet her who was pregnant with the Christ’s forerunner who would prepare His way. The very moment Mary’s voice is heard, John leaps for joy in his mother’s womb and Elizabeth blesses Mary and her Child. Luke tells us that the Prophets (particularly Isaiah 7,14 and Malachi 3,1; 4,5-6) have been fulfilled with the conception of John and Jesus.  

5. Mary’s Child would fulfill the promise given in Genesis 3,15: He would strike the head of the Serpent who had caused Adam and Eve to disobey God and thus fall into sin. In striking the Serpent’s head, Jesus defeats him and conquers sin, death and hades. Jesus is the Blessing for all nations, first to the Jews and also to the Gentiles. Jesus is the Son of God (Luke 1,35), the Son of Man (Luke 5,24), Immanuel (Matthew 1,23), Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9,6), the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Revelation 5,5), the Α and the Ω, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End (Revelation 22,13). Jesus was sent to save the world from its sin. 

6. The Apostle Paul told the Roman Christians: »The Jews are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the Law, the worship and the promises, the Patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever« (Romans 9,4-5). Jesus is the Jewish Messiah promised to the Patriarchs. His lineage stretches back through David, Jesse, Judah, Jacob (Israel), Isaac and Abraham. Paul also says that Jesus is the Gentile Christ. The Prophet Isaiah even foretold this: »The Root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples – of Him shall the nations inquire, and His resting place shall be glorious« (Isaiah 11,10). 

7. 23. December also concludes the final of 7 Advent antiphons expecting the arrival of the Christ. Today’s antiphon is: 

℣ O Immanuel, our King, Law-giver and Lord, the Longing of the nations and their | Savior: *

℟ Draw near and save us, O | Lord our God. 

Mary sang about this saving God to Elizabeth: »The Lord who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His Name.« Mary’s Lord is our Lord; He has done great things for us. Tomorrow we will celebrate His birth into this fallen, depraved world of sinners and rejoice in God the Father’s great salvation gift to us.  Amen. 

8. Let us pray. O Holy Spirit, who creates a pleasing theme to overflow within our hearts; give us the joy in Christ, so that we may be comforted in our salvation and respond with verses of praise sung to His Holy Name.  Amen. 

To God alone be the Glory 

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 28. Revised Edition © 2012 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart. 

ELKB. Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. www.bayern-evangelisch.de/www/index.php. Copyright © 2013 Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. 

VELKD. Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands. www.velkd.de. Copyright © 2013 Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands. 

Löhe, Wilhelm. Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians. Wartburg Publishing House, Chicago circa 1912. Concordia Publishing House; Concordia on Demand.